Who lives long? And, why? These are just two of the questions that will be explored at the 9th annual Art & Science of Aging Conference at Grand Valley State University. The theme of the February 14 conference is “The Heart & Soul of Aging Well.”

Leslie Martin will give the keynote address, “Throw Your Heart Into it, and the Rest will Follow.” Martin is a professor of Public Health at Loma Linda University and research professor at the University of California, Riverside. As co-author of The Longevity Project, she has spent more than 20 years exploring who lives long, and why. Her research is based on the lives of more than 1,500 men and women who have been studied since 1921 and has yielded important insights about the paths to longevity.

The conference includes 15 workshops on a wide range of topics including health care reform, retirement, healthy eating, exercise and pain management. New this year are three sessions led by Carol Hendershot, a certified mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor with the Grand Rapids Center for Mindfulness.

The conference is sponsored in part by Grand Valley’s College of Community and Public Service and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, along with Clark Retirement Community, MapleCreek, Beacon Hill, Pilgrim Manor, Miller Johnson, Porter Hills Retirement Community and Area Agency on Aging of West Michigan, among others.

More for information contact Priscilla Kimboko, professor of gerontology and health care management, at (616) 331-6641 or geroconference@gvsu.edu.